Header units for plate type heat exchanger



Nov. 5, 1957' w. E. HAMMOND HEADER UNITS FOR PLATE TYPE HEAT EXCHANGERFiled Feb. e, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 4025 5470707004 ATTORNEYHEADER UNITS-FOR PLATE TYPE HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Feb. 6, 1953 Nov. 5,1957 w. E. HAMMOND 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11" IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII,

'IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIII/III] 'III II III/f Ill I I I I IIIIIIEE: lIlIlI-in n n A 5 4 I All? INVENTOR. WM/Iom flaw/0000 liIU/LUEY United StatesPatent HEADER UNITS FOR PLATE TYPE HEAT EXCHANGER William E. Hammond,Wellsville, Y., assignor to The Air Preheater Corporation, New York, N.Y.

Application February 6, 1953, Serial No. 335,480

2 Claims. (Cl. 257-245) The present invention relates to improvements inplate type heat exchangers of the type particularly adapted for thetransfer of heat' between two confined fluids.

This invention has for its principal object a heat exchanger assemblywhich is produced by stacking a series of corrugated sheets one uponanother and bonding them together at their points of contact so as toform an integral matrix of heat exchanger elements. The open ends of thestacked sheets are made integral with a particular header arrangementwhich directs a relatively hot fluid and a fluid to be heated toseparated passageways between corrugated sheets. The invention will bestbe understood upon consideration of the following detailed descriptionwhen read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a core assembly utilizing corrugatedsheet type elements in a stacked arrangementn Figure 2 isa'per'spe'ctiv'e View at a header arrangement used in conjunction withthe corrugated sheet type element.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another form of header used inconjunction with a core section of stacked corrugated sheets.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of formed header plates used inthe header of Figure 3, to provide a transition between the passagesconstituted by the corrugations and a box like manifold.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of a header comprising the flat platesof Figure 4.

Figure 6 diagrammatically illustrates flow passageways within a heatexchanger core utilizing the flat plate header of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a sectional elevation of the header illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 8 diagramatically illustrates the flow passageways within a coreutilizing the formed plate header of Figure 3.

The heat exchanger elements of Figure l which comprise the heatingsurface core 10 of this novel heat exchanger are essentially a series oftransversely superimposed corrugated sheets 20 each of which is formedfrom a plane surfaced metallic sheet having good heat transferqualities; and which is otherwise suitable for fabrication into anintegral heat exchanger core by means usch as brazing. When stacked oneupon another, these corrugated sheets form a series of parallelpassageways 21, 22 suitable for containing a plurality of fluids flowingtherethrough in a heat exchange relation one with another, the passages21 for one fluid opening from the upper face of the sheet 20 while those22 for the other fluid open from the underside of the sheet. Thecorrugations 23 of the sheets 20 are so formed in size and contour thatwhen a plurality of said sheets are superimposed they do not telescopeor nest one within another but only index themselves until they contactalong lines tangent to the crest 24 of each corrugation 23. The outerdiametral dimension of each corrugation being greater than the spacing2,812,165 V Patented Nov. 5,1957

of the corrugations or legs of the U-folds therein. The sheets may inthis manner be joined together into an integral block-like heatexchanger core 10 as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 illustrates a form of header suitable for application to thedisclosed corrugated plate type core 10. This header assemblyessentially comprises a series of parallel plates 2 which abut and arejoined end to end with the open ends of the corrugated sheet core. As isshown in Figure 4, one of the parallel plates is joined to each end faceportion of the core which is defined by the lower loops or troughs ofone corrugated sheet and the upper loops or crests of the next lowercorrugated sheet. In addition, one such flat plate is joined to theupper loops of the uppermost corrugated sheet and a similar plate isjoined to the lower loops of the lowermost corrugated sheet. To fullyenclose the spaces between corrugations, metallic'strips 2 are placedalong the troughs of both the uppermost and lowermost corrugated platesso as to fully enclose the spaces between vertical legs of thecorrugations. These enclosed spaces lead to and communicate with theinterior of the headers in the same manner as those spaces'which liebetween the corrugated sheets and are closed by the crests ofcorrugations in adjacent sheets 20.

The spaces between the parallel header plates 25 are further enclosed ontwo of the remaining three open sides by a combination of two sideplates 30, 31 or by an end plate 32 and a single side plate 33. Byalternating the enclosure arrangement it is possible that the open sides34, 35 of the header boxes or manifolds may be alternately located atthe outer end or at a side of the header.

When used with the flat plate header of Figure 4, the stretcher portions36, 37 of the corrugated sheet core become in effect plates separatingone fluid from another, and the legs 38 of the undulating portions ofthe corrugated sheets form continuous strip fins in the spaces betweenplates in the manner illustrated by Figure 6. Figure 5 illustrates thestraight passageways between flat header plates which direct fluid flowto the core so as to achieve the pattern of flow illustrated by Figure8.

In use, the combined core and header arrangement illustrated in Figure 4may be conected into any two-fluid system wherein it is desired toeffect a transfer of heat from one fluid to another. As one fluid entersthrough the side openings 35 it passes into the header where it isturned to flow through the passageways 21, 22 situated between thecorrugated sheets 20. The fluid continues to flow to the second headerwhere it is discharged from openings symmetrical with those at theentrance end. A second fluid is simultaneously supplied to the corethrough openings 34 situated in the second header. This second fluidthen flows counter-current to the first fluid through the spaces 21B,22B (Figure 6) between corrugated sheets and into the second outletheader where it is exhausted to the proper ducting connections.

Figure 2 discloses a core of stacked corrugated sheets 20 having a novelheader construction in which formed transition plates 40 compriseseparating plates whose corrugated end faces exactly abut the end facesof the individual corrugated sheets 20 which comprise the core 10. Thecorrugations 41 of the formed plates 40 taper to a flat plate section 42that lies substantially midway between the ends of the plate and the twosides 43 of the plate adjacent the corrugations lie in the same plane asthe flat end portion 42 of the plate so that the sides of said platepresent flat surfaces readily adapted to joining together with thestraight edges of closure plates 30, 31 and 33.

These closure plates enclose the space between formed sheets 40 exceptfor a single opening which is maintained thereof .in the manner shown at45 and 46 of Figure 2. Such openings allow a plurality of fluids to flowinto and out of the header in a constantly spaced relation. Where theopening is at one side of the header, the end thereof is entirely closedoff by a spacer plate 32, one side is completely closed off by a fulllength side plate 31 and the ported side is closed off by a shortenedside plate 30A. Where the header opening is at the outer ends of theplates 41), two full length side plates 30, 31 are joined between theplates to fully enclose the sides.

In the assembly disclosed in Figure 2, the arrangement would be suchthat any one sheet would form an upper wall and the adjacent lower sheetwould form a lower wall for a series of passageways located in zig-zagfashion between said two plates. Fluids traversing the heat exchangerwould be completely separated by the corrugated sheets making up eachlayer of the core, and it would be impossible for one fluid to lead intoa passageway being occupied by a second fluid. The fluids flow througheach core section in a checker-board pattern as is clearly seen byreference to Figures 7 and 8. The heat transfer takes place betweenfluids in alternate passages so that the core becomes in effect a bundleof tubes, each tube of fluid being bounded on all four sides by a tubecarrying a second fluid.

It may be desirable under certain conditions to fabricate the core sheet20 and the matching header plate 40 from a single sheet of material. Aplurality of sheets so formed could be superimposed so that thecorrugations would index themselves to the proper point where they couldbe securely held until finally bonded together. The spacer plates 30,31,32 and 33 may then be welded into the required spaces, or in certaininstances these spacer plates may be positioned at the time thecorrugated sheets are stacked and the entire unit of corrugated sheetsand spacer plates bonded together in a single operation.

What I claim is:

1. A plate type heat exchangeapparatus arranged to direct the flow ofhot and cold fluids in heat exchange relationship, the apparatusincluding a plurality of sinuously corrugated sheets stacked one uponanother with a crest of one corrugation bridging the space betweentroughs of abutting corrugations to provide a series of parallelpassageways therebetween; a header assembly adjacent open ends of thefluid passageways to direct hot and cold fluids to their respectivepassageways, said header assembly comprising a series of header platescorrugated at one end to coincide with the end faces of the corrugatedsheets and planar at the remote end thereof to provide spaced wallswhich permit fluid flow therebetween; and closure means positionedbetween outer edges of adjacent header plates to enclose the spacetherebetween, said closure means having an opening for fluid wherebyfluid flowing into the space between adjacent header plates is directedto diagonally adjacent passageways lying between abutting pairs ofcorrugated sheets.

2. A heat exchange apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein thecorrugated portion of said header assembly is formed entirely at oneside of the plane in which the fiat portion lies.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,991,555 Holmes Feb. 19, 1935 2,136,641 Smith Nov. 15, 1938 2,143,269Hubbard Jan. 10, 1939 2,429,508 Belaieff Oct. 21, 1947 2,526,135 Holmeset a1. Oct. 17, 1950 2,697,588 Jensen Dec. 21, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS914,783 France Oct. 17, 1946 922,129 France May 30, 1947 927,739 FranceNov. 7, 1947

